COURTHOUSE — A father of 14 who made his living as a so-called “flim-flam” or “quick-change” artist bought himself some time behind bars for swindling cashiers out of cash at Giant grocery stores in Montgomery and Bucks counties.

Bruce D. Cofer, 44, of North Chadwick Street, Philadelphia, showed no emotion as he was sentenced in Montgomery County Court on Tuesday to 4-to-23-months in the county jail, to be followed by two years’ probation, after he pleaded guilty to multiple counts of theft by deception in connection with his schemes at Giant grocery stores in Lower Providence and Whitpain in Montgomery County and in Plumstead Township and Morrisville in Bucks County between February and June 2011.

“The defendant can be described in a number of ways but petty thief is probably a description of what this defendant is, a petty thief, pure and simple,” said Judge Steven T. O’Neill, who likened Cofer to “a one man plague of locusts descending on the stores.”

“Although you were very good at what you do, you weren’t good enough. You got caught and your flim-flam started to fall apart and your house of cards came tumbling down,” O’Neill told Cofer, who, according to testimony claimed to work as a plumber.

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Indicating Cofer carried out his scheme “a mind-numbing number of times,” the judge said Cofer’s thievery must have amounted to an exhausting lifestyle.

“I don’t know how you have time to see those children while you act to carry out your chosen crime, which is exhausting,” O’Neill addressed Cofer.

The judge made Cofer eligible for work release so he can continue to support his children.

“Don’t ever think of walking into any Giant,” the judge warned Cofer, essentially banning him from the grocery store chain as part of the sentence.

Assistant District Attorney John Walko sought a jail sentence for Cofer, arguing he did not learn a lesson from having previous arrests or convictions for similar conduct in other counties.

“He wasn’t going to stop his thefts. He is a quick-change artist, a craft that he has perfected and was able to implement many times on Giant Food stores, using a slight-of-hand technique to steal $20 during each transaction,” Walko said.

The charges covered 13 different transactions at the four stores, during which Cofer swindled cashiers out of a total of $260. The stores are located on Egypt Road in Lower Providence and DeKalb Pike in Whitpain in Montgomery County and on Swamp Road in Plumstead Township and Trenton West Avenue in Morrisville in Bucks County.

Defense lawyer Adam Katzman, arguing Cofer accepted responsibility for his crimes and maintained a close relationship with his family, sought a probationary sentence for Cofer. Cofer did apologize for his conduct before learning his fate from the judge.

Cofer pleaded guilty just moments before a jury was to begin hearing evidence at his trial.

Cofer, prosecutors alleged, would approach the cashiers with a small value item and pay for that item with a $50 bill and the cashiers would provide him with proper change, including $20 bills. Cofer, “through a slight-of-hand technique,” would place one of the $20 bills in his pocket and claim that he was “shorted” $20 by the cashier, Walko alleged.

The cashier, unsure of what just occurred, would then provide Cofer an additional $20 that he was not entitled to, Walko alleged. Cofer was captured on video performing the scheme at each of the four locations.

Cofer’s scheme was uncovered by a quick thinking loss prevention official at Giant, who then alerted police. Authorities were then able to track Cofer through his use of a Giant store bonus card.

Cofer is no stranger to law enforcement as he has a 2004 conviction for similar activity at a store in Montgomery Township.

In May 2004, Cofer, then 35, was sentenced to one year of probation after he pleaded guilty in Montgomery County to misdemeanor charges of theft by deception. At that time, Judge O’Neill also ordered Cofer to never return to the CVS store located at County Line Road and Route 202.

Prosecutors alleged Cofer lied when he claimed a cashier at the store shortchanged him $20 in change after he purchased two iced tea drinks on Aug. 24, 2003. The cashier subsequently gave Cofer another $20 bill. A store manager then confronted Cofer about the theft scheme.

Prosecutors said such crimes of deception, while they may not seem serious to some, hurt everyone when retailers have to increase costs to make up for losses due to theft